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Our Opinion

The OnePlus 6 (6GB RAM, 64GB) is a slightly better phone, but the Asus Zenfone 5Z (6GB RAM, 64GB) is significantly better value for money. Which phone should you buy? Depends on how much your want to spend!

Beautiful, elegant, glass & metal design, with a 'notch' screen - quite similar to the iPhone X - and arguably the most beautifully designed phone in this price bracket

The power button and the volume rocker on the right have just the right amount of tactile give, and also the mid-frame has a smooth matte finish that ups both the premium quotient as well as the in-hand feel - the ZenFone 5Z feels like an expensive phone that isn't expensive at all

Build quality is rock solid too - the phone has considerable heft but not unbearably so - you'll feel the phone in your hands but you won't find it taking the better of you - it's just the right proportion

It's very pocketable too - boasting of an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 90 per cent - the phone is almost border-less, barring a notch up-top and a chin portion at the bottom

The tall, modern, 19:9 display is absolutely gorgeous - it can get really bright and produces rich and vibrant colours that look pleasing to the eyes - it has great viewing angles as well - again, this is arguably the best display in this price bracket, even better than the OnePlus 6, especially in terms of colour accuracy

Asus's ZenUI is a huge improvement over its previous, bloated versions - it's now much lighter and smoother, and adds tons of useful AI frameworks to make the core Android experience much better - the cameras use AI for scene detection and better shots, the battery uses AI to optimize charging, the processor uses AI to boost specific apps/games, and the display uses AI to remain on when you are looking at it!

Asus also makes probably the best use of the 'bunny ears' on the sides of the notch of any Android phone so far - the implementation is well thought-out - the bunny ears in the case of the ZenFone 5Z are interactive - they don't bombard you with icons and notifications - instead, everything is neatly arranged and there's even a tap to view more option - tapping on either side of the notch takes you to a small sub-head that gives you an expanded view of all the incoming notifications, without having you to pull them down all the way through - it's these little details in the software that really add to the experience of using the Zenfone 5Z

The hardware on the Zenfone 5Z is as top-end as it gets - it is the cheapest phone in India right now with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor under the hood - in short, it will fly through anything you throw at it - and will be as fast as other flagships (OnePlus, Galaxy S9 etc)

Very good dual camera system at the rear - arguably the best at this price point, competing virtually head-to-head with the OnePlus 6, and and not too much behind the best of the best like the Pixel 2 - photos clicked with it in good lighting come out well, with lots of detail and colours which are mostly true to source - dynamic range is also spot-on - the ZenFone 5Z is also capable of taking some good shots in tricky and low light conditions - the phone also comes with an in-built night mode that ups the detail (even further) and leads to brighter photos at the cost of resolution (4-megapixel)

Thanks to the 4-axis OIS, shake is minimal (or altogether absent) in videos and the 4K clips shot with the phone also look fantastic - the phone further comes with a 3 mic system that results in fairly crisp audio recording as well

The secondary 8-megapixel wide-angle sensor on the rear performs its job really well too - it gives you both a pretty amazing portrait mode, and a wide-angle shot option

The phone's front 8MP shooter is decent too (though not exceptional like the rear camera setup) - it takes some good selfies in good light

The stereo speakers can get really loud, and the phone also supports High-Resolution audio via compatible wired and wireless headphones

Good battery life - the 3300mAh battery inside the ZenFone 5Z is similar to the OnePlus 6 - you will comfortably get a day of use

It even charges as fast as OnePlus' excellent Dash charger - you can top it off in some one hour fifteen minutes using the bundled 18W Qualcomm Quick Charger 3.0 charger

On the whole, the Asus ZenFone 5Z is the first (and only) phone in the market right now that should make OnePlus nervous, and will give some very serious competition to the excellent OnePlus 6 - it is arguably a bit better than the OnePlus 6 in a couple of areas (overall looks, speakers), and arguably a bit behind in a couple (software, water resistance), but overall, these 2 phones are pretty much neck-and-neck - which is saying something since the Zenfone 5z is significantly cheaper!

The best looking OnePlus phone to date - has a polished refined design, with a glass rear panel, and three distinct (and beautiful) color options (plus the Marvel Avengers edition)

Excellent build quality

The phone is comfortable to hold, thanks to the curved glass rear

Face unlock works great in most conditions, and unlocks the phone in a fraction of a second (except in low light or under very bright sunlight)

There is also of course the fingerprint sensor at the back, if you wish to use that instead, and it works great too

OnePlus's excellent alert slider is there too (it has now moved to the right side of the phone) - and is now more simplified toggling between 3 simple states - ring, vibrate and silent, with a pop-up that tells you instantly which mode you are switching to every time

Excellent display - catches on to the modern 'notch' trend, with a tall screen ratio - the AMOLED screen is vivid, with punchy colours and great viewing angles - videos looks great, and you can also set your own custom colour temperature if you prefer

OxygenOS continues to be a huge differentiator for OnePlus - it strikes a great balance between keeping the base UI identical to stock Android but still adding a number of useful additions - like shortcuts, a dark theme, a scrolling screenshot capture tool, and controls for giving the on-screen buttons additional functions, night and reading modes, a choice of system fonts, and configurable colours for the notification LED - all in all, its a great software experience, that ticks the right boxes

Another interesting add-on is an optional gesture scheme that lets you get rid of the Android navigation buttons altogether, and gives you a full gesture based navigation scheme like the iPhone X - thus giving you even more screen space to play with - the gestures do take some time to get a hang of, but once you do, they will become second nature

There's also a Gaming Mode that not only suppresses non-essential notifications, but can also limit background apps' Internet usage, which can make a difference in online games - you can even route calls directly to the loudspeaker so you don't have to stop playing

Good set of dual rear cameras, significantly improved from the OnePlus 5T - especially in terms of portrait mode photos, low light performance, and video recording (including a new super-slow motion mode)

The rear cameras now also come with OIS

Decent (though not great) front camera, pretty similar to the OnePlus 5T - a software bokeh mode for the front camera is also there

Decent loudspeaker (pretty loud) - although it tends to get blocked when you hold the phone in landscape mode

Good (but not exceptional) battery life - will comfortably last the day with moderate to heavy use

Fast charging support, still one of the best in the business - the Dash Charger takes the phone up from zero to just over 50 percent in half an hour, and gives you a full charge in around an hour and a half

On the whole, the OnePlus 6 is good-looking, well crafted, extremely powerful - it is also a solid upgrade to the OnePlus 5T in almost all the departments such as display, performance, design and camera - and ultimately the OnePlus 6’s bang for buck is still about the best you can get in the smartphone world

2-minute Review [Negatives]

The shutter speed on the camera could have been slightly better - it's decent but not the best - it can sometimes get in the way when you're looking to take a quick shot, or clicking a moving subject

Will also tend to pick up smudges very quickly

It's not the easiest to reach all corners of the newly enlarged screen - people who prefer more compact phones might have preferred a smaller-screen option for themselves

While OnePlus does claim that the phone has water-resistance, it's not IP rating certified, which likely means that the protection is quite basic

A little slippery because of the glass

At 177g, the phone is a bit on the the heavier side too

The rear and front cameras are good, but not really up to the high benchmarks set by the likes of the iPhone X, the Galaxy S9, or the Pixel 2 - this continues to be the only one significant area, where you will be making a compromise over the best flagship smartphones, when you buy a OnePlus device (of course admittedly for a much lower price)

Expert Reviews

One of the most underappreciated phones around...an excellent all-round package